U.S. Counties Killing The Most People Are Good At Getting Death Penalty, Not So Good At Justice

[marmar]

from HuffPost:



Just 2 percent of counties in America are responsible for more than half the nation's executions, and those same counties have been responsible for a disproportionate share of high-profile prosecutorial misconduct and exonerations following wrongful convictions.

In a report released last month, the Death Penalty Information Center found that 2 percent of counties, as well as being responsible for a majority of executions, can also claim credit for 56 percent of the current death row population. What's more, just 15 percent of U.S. counties account for all of the executions since 1976, according to the DPIC.

There are lots of different ways to think about these figures. And my Huffington Post colleagues Katy Hall and Jan Diehm have broken them down with some informative graphics. Since only 32 states have the death penalty, perhaps it shouldn't be terribly surprising that such a small percentage of counties account for such a large portion of executions, particularly if most of them are counties with large populations. (And that seems to be the case, although these counties aren't all necessarily the largest in their respective states.) At the very least, it is more evidence that the death penalty is applied inconsistently.

.......(snip).......

The Death Penalty Information Center report touches on this a bit. For example, the report notes that in Orleans Parish, La., which leads the state in executions, there's a long, sordid history of prosecutorial misconduct. Orleans Parish has even been rebuked by the Supreme Court, though the Court refuses to hold the county liable. (I wrote about prosecutor misconduct in Orleans Parish earlier this year.) Four men from New Orleans who once awaited execution have since been freed. Philadelphia County, Pa., leads the state of Pennsylvania in executions, yet also ranks last in the state when it comes to paying the attorneys appointed to represent defendants in capital cases. Florida leads the country in number of people sent to death row over the last two years. The state also leads the country in number of people exonerated from death row. Incredibly, despite these figures, Florida lawmakers are still trying to limit appeals, so that executions can be carried out more quickly. That's one way to prevent exonerations before executions. .....................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/19/death-penalty_n_4275323.html?ncid=txtlnkushpmg00000037

[LuvNewcastle]

1. This article is very disturbing.

If we had a Justice Dept. that cared about justice, the feds would be in every one of those counties, shaking them up from top to bottom. There need to be stiff sentences for prosecutors and judges that withhold, ignore, and fabricate evidence, especially in capital cases. The same goes for the lab techs. I wish the Justice Dept. had as much zeal for seeing justice done for defendants as they do for prosecuting drug crimes.

The death penalty needs to be abolished in this country. Regardless of the moral arguments against it, there are too many places in America where the justice system is perverted. If capital punishment can't be applied equally, honestly, and with careful deliberation, it shouldn't be used at all. And the question of whether you live or die shouldn't hinge on something as random as where the crime was committed, either. Besides, the death penalty can't be reversed if the person is later found to be innocent, and that is happening all too often.